By James Ronald Skains
Journal Correspondent

In a Defense Department Special Briefing on Friday, September 9, 2005, Brigadier General John Basilica, commander of the 256th Brigade Combat Team known as the Tiger Brigade gave a brief history of the deployment to Iraq of the enhanced brigade.

"About 18 months ago in the May 2004 time frame, the brigade was mobilized for combat support of Operation Iraqi Freedom," General Basilica explained. "When we were mobilized, we received the other units from out of state. The 69th Infantry is a unit from the Manhattan, New York area, for the most part. They are the unit that responded immediately to Ground Zero during 9/11."

"Most of the 69th Infantry had spent nearly a year doing some type of service work related to 9/11, and then turned right around and came to combat with us," General Basilica, a 1978 West Point graduate pointed out. "We first went to Fort Hood where we trained for five months with the best equipment the Army had to offer. We cross-attached and became of very cohesive unit before we deployed to the war theater and was initially attached to the 1st Calvary Division."

Also, a "Civilian Soldier", Basilica served as Undersecretary for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development prior to being deployed to Iraq. The General had worked in various positions in that agency for thirteen years prior to 2004. Upon return from his mobilization and overseas military deployment, he accepted a full time position with the Louisiana National Guard as the Special Assistant to the Adjutant General. He was named the Commander of Joint Task Force Pelican, charged with leading the National Guard hurricane Katrina/Rita relief effort.

In addition to Major General Bennett Landreneau and Brigadier General Basilica, the Louisiana National Guard has three other officers holding the rank of General.

They are, Brigadier General Gary l. Jones who serves as commander, Joint Force Headquarters as principal assistant to the Adjutant General; Brigadier General Joseph B. Veillon who commands the Louisiana Air National Guard; and Brigadier General Huntington B. Downer, Jr. who serves as Assistant Adjutant General.

General Downer is no stranger to the Louisiana landscape having served for seven terms and a total of 28 years in the Louisiana House of Representatives, being selected a Speaker of the House from 1996 to 2000. General Downer also currently serves as Secretary of Veteran Affairs, a Cabinet level position in the administration of Governor Kathleen Blanco.

General Basilica in his department of Defense briefing on September 9th, also noted some of the day to day activities of the 256th in Iraq. "We have been part of Task Force Baghdad for the entire year of our deployment. At some time or the other during this twelve month period, we have been responsible for every inch of the battle-space west of the Tigris River."

"In combat operations we were in some of the most dangerous and hostile areas in which Task Force Baghdad operated," General Basilica noted. "The area in which we first deployed was mostly rural in which the insurgents cache and stage their attacks. Also, while in this area, we were able to help the farmers restore their agriculture industry."

"At one point, one of our units, the 69th from Manhattan had the oversight and security of the airport road," General Basilica reported. "We manned numerous security checkpoints along the road and the safety record on the Airport Road or the Irish Road as it is sometimes referred was greatly improved under our watch."

"Using the state of the art Buffalo IED device, we were able to located and disable some fifty IED," recalled General Basilica, who was first on active duty for ten years with the 9th Infantry Division based in Fort Lewis. "In addition, we are quite proud of our key role in training and working with the 1st and 3rd Iraqi Brigades."

"Another line of operations which we successfully handled was what we refer to as essential services or the SWEAT projects," General Basilica who was first appointed to the Louisiana National Guard in 1992 emphasized. "The brigade managed over 100 projects worth $300 million dollars in sewer, water, electricity and trash. These projects did two things; first, it put Iraqis to work and it improved the quality of life for the citizens of Iraq."

However, just as portions of the Brigade were shaking our the sand from their boots en-route home to Louisiana, Katrina, then Rita altered the plan for many of the 2,500 Louisiana National Guard troops.

"About 800 soldiers have indicated that they are interested in serving in the aftermath of Katrina, while about 1.500 soldiers have indicated their preference to come off active duty and return to their civilian occupations, and about 200 are still undecided." General Basilica who earned both a B.S. and Master degree in Engineering from the University of Maryland explained. "Approximately 500 of our Louisiana soldiers were negatively affected by Hurricane Katrina. However, the important thing is that these soldiers had no choice to immediately go from a combat situation to a recovery operation."

"A great many of our National Guard soldiers have come from small businesses and work environments that have literally hung on by their finger-tips until these soldiers can return to their civilian occupations," General Basilica pointed out. "These soldiers are not being pressed into continued service and help with the Katrina Recovery efforts. The plan is for them to go to a Title 32 (state) status."

"The 256th will ultimately go through Fort Polk for official demobilization," General Basilica confided. "About 200 soldiers are part of the trail party that are responsible for loading the ship and ensuring that all our equipment gets back to Louisiana."

In addition to being a West Point graduate, General John Basilica, Jr. is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College. Other schools of instruction in the Army that the General completed include, U.S. Airborne School, Infantry Officer Basic Course, Engineer Officer Advanced Course, Combined Arms & Services Staff School, and the Command & General Staff College.

Brigadier General Basilica has held seven different ranks in his twenty-seven years of military life starting out as a Second Lieutenant on 7 June 1978, On 7 June 1980, Basilica was promoted to First Lieutenant. On 1 January 1982, he received his Captain's bars. On 29 August 1989 he became a Major and on 14 September 1993 he obtained the rank of Lt. Colonel. Five years later on 16 April, Basilica became a full Colonel and on 6 October, 2000, John Basilica, Jr. received his star as Brigadier General.

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